Muhammad and Islam

Influences from several early monotheistic religions can be seen in Islam. Muhammad even said he thought people of other faiths had solutions to getting rid of polytheism. As Muhammad began to fulfill his duty as God’s Prophet, he and his followers were met with resistance. Eventually battles began to ensue over control of land and religious beliefs as Islam began to take hold. Certain characteristics from Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity that appear in Islam indicate that Muhammad used these other religions as a sort of blue print. Similar to Islam, Zoroastrianism holds that the truth is revealed through a prophet and followers typically pray several times a day. Judaism is another Abrahamic faith that uses oral law, or the Torah, similar to Hadiths that Muslims use. In Christianity, Jesus is God’s prophet similar to how Muslims believe Muhammad is His prophet.
Muhammad also drew influence from the Harifs and the Muruwwa Code. The Harifs were neither Christian or Jew but believed there was only one God. Muhammad believed that the Jews, Christians, and Harifs may have “answers to the problems that were gnawing at the core of pagan Meccan society (Goldschmidt & Davidson, 2010). The Muruwwa code consists of principles that can be found in Islam and also the other previously mentioned religions. Bravery in battle, patience, persistence, protection of the weak, defiance toward the strong, hospitality, generosity, loyalty, and fidelity are all principles that these early religions teach and uphold (Goldschmidt & Davidson, 2010).
Once Muhammad established Islam, his duty as God’s prophet was to generate followers. At first it seems Muhammad had difficulty since he was only successful with close friends and family. He did however have the backing of several strong members of Meccan society which no doubt helped Muhammad to fulfill his duty. These members included Abu-Bakr, a wealthy man with high social standing, Arkam who was a member of a strong clan, and Uthman who was a member of the powerful Umayyad family (Goldschmidt & Davidson, 2010).
The hijra was a major event that further united Arab tribes. It was under Islam that Muhammad settled disputes and brought conflicting tribes together. When asked to come to Medina, Muhammad recognized that the Jews residing there already worshipped the same God and saw this as an opportunity to spread Islam. This was also an opportunity to get out of Mecca since Muhammad and his followers were not well received and seen as a threat to the economy.
Tension began to rise between the Jews and Muslims in Medina when Muhammad made the call to change the direction of prayer from Jerusalem to Mecca. The conversion to Islam became less of a choice at the onset of a series of battles between the Meccans and the Muslims. Those who refused to convert were either exiled or put to death and eventually Muhammad controlled most of the Arabian Peninsula.
We see that Islam was created alongside other faiths and shares many characteristics with them. Muhammad’s quest to spread Islam was at times difficult and not well received. Even still, Muhammad did succeed in uniting Arabian tribes under Islam and it was this early work that helped Islam become the second largest religion in the world today.

Works Cited
Goldschmidt, A., & Davidson, L. (2010). A concise history of the Middle East (9th ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.